Client Spotlights: Nonprofits

Leadership at the American Swedish Institute was in the early stages of campaign planning and had a preliminary case for support. Though the essence of the case had been prepared, it needed to be finalized and the campaign messaging needed to be developed so that communications elements could be created in advance of a public announcement.

Corus International had been utilizing various manual processes to prepare reports for its fundraising organizations Lutheran World Relief and Corus World Health. They needed a solution that would automate that work and provide one source of truth for data.

In 2021, the Development & Communications team at Covenant House Vancouver was ready to create its own strategic plan to dovetail with the organizational plan already in place. The D&C team wanted a plan that would guide their work for budget planning, programmatic and marketing decision-making, and fundraising campaign goals from FY22 to FY25.

A virtual training—tailored to meet EMF’s needs and specific situation—was conducted that focused on data science, prospect identification, relationship management, and prospect research.

With both new executive and board leadership at the helm in early 2020, the time was right for the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota (EFMN) to transform its board and equip them to be a best-in-class board of directors. Today, the board has doubled in size, is more representative of the populations the organization serves, and understands the role and reach of each member’s own philanthropy.

Hammer & NER wanted to complete an internal assessment of its development efforts and to conduct a campaign planning study in order to prepare for a comprehensive campaign. This work would provide the organization with the foundation to better fund its services and programs for the people they serve living with intellectual disabilities and the staff who support them, now and in the future.

The pandemic of 2020 forced nonprofit fundraisers to pivot from face-to-face to remote and digital donor engagement. This move required training by digital fundraising experts as well as a rethinking of workflows and donor engagement strategies.

The International OCD Foundation had a successful development program, but leadership suspected that they were maxed out with their current resources, including staff, and were therefore not able to capitalize on certain opportunities. Leadership wanted to know both how much the organization could grow and the best path forward for that growth.

IslandWood knew that philanthropy would become increasingly important as the organization launched plans to deepen its impact by increasing access to outdoor educational experiences for students in under-resourced schools. A campaign readiness assessment revealed areas of opportunity and included recommendations to enhance internal systems and deepen engagement among key constituencies in advance of a campaign.

Minnesota Zoo Foundation sought to embark on a capital campaign to build a new, state-of-the-art animal hospital. The new Wildlife Hospital and Wellness Center will be a centrally located facility that will dramatically increase the amount of high-quality, preventive care available to the over 400 zoological species living at the Minnesota Zoo.